In true Watershed Voice fashion the Keep Your Voice Down (wrecking) crew brings the news in this week’s episode. Doug and Alek discuss the fourth annual Artist Showcase lineup announcement slated for next week, the Huss Project Farmer’s Market that kicks off on Saturday, June 1 (according to Doug’s Fitbit), and the official end to Watershed’s paywall, making content accessible to all regardless of financial circumstance.
Alek Haak-Frost
Doug and Alek dusted off their mics and got back into the game this week after nearly five months away, explaining where they’ve been, why it’s been so long, and what not to do when it comes to retrieving DoorDash orders or cleaning up dog pee.
With support from community members like you, Watershed Voice raised $30,000 through NewsMatch in 2023, joining 340 other INN Network newsrooms in a collaborative fundraising campaign to support #nonprofitnews.
What does it cost to keep the proverbial lights on for an award-winning nonprofit news magazine? Likely more than you think.
As we approach the final days of 2023, we are taking a look back at Keep Your Voice Down’s most listened-to episodes of the year. Check out the list here.
Hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears Jr. are joined by Watershed Voice’s resident holiday expert Steph Hightree for a very special episode of Keep Your Voice Down. After a brief NewsMatch update, the greatest trio since Garfield, Holland, and Maguire discuss elves on shelves, new and old traditions, the legitimacy of ham, Christmas cats, their favorite holiday films, and more. So grab your egg nog and glorified rice because it’s about to get real — festive.
With a mere 18 days left in our year end fundraiser, we were informed that thanks to additional support from a national funder, NewsMatch will now match up to $15,000 for each participating newsroom.
As we reach the end of 2023, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the stories that had the biggest impact on our community this year. Let us take you through some of the highlights to illustrate why your financial support is crucial to this work.
Keep Your Voice Down Presents: This interview with Matt Erspamer, a journalist, copy writer, and film and television critic, who also happens to have went to Central Michigan University with hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears, Jr. The three CMU journalism school alums discuss a new partnership between Matt and Watershed Voice, the pros and cons of streaming services acting as movie studios, the origin of Matt’s passion for cinema, and why only one of them is currently practicing journalism.
Despite an uncommon number of contested races on this year’s Three Rivers city ballot, there will be no new faces on the city commission in 2024.
A message from Watershed Voice Executive Editor Alek Haak-Frost
A message from Executive Editor Alek Haak-Frost regarding Watershed Voice’s NewsMatch fundraising campaign.
On this week’s episode of Keep Your Voice Down, Alek and Doug are joined by Washington-based hip hop producer and artist Blake Alford. The Anderson, Indiana native talks about his latest project Domino Effect, and the added effort that went into producing the album’s first single, Oxygen, which is set to drop on November 10.
The trio also discuss how Blake has evolved as an artist, why community and collaboration are vital to any creative process, and answer the question on everyone’s mind, “what kind of music does Alek listen to when playing video games?”
Following a totally planned and not at all unintentional 80-day hiatus, Keep Your Voice Down is back! Alek and Doug return to their respective mics to discuss the 2023 LION Local Journalism Awards in North Carolina, mental health, and Watershed Voice’s upcoming NewsMatch fundraising campaign.
We’ve got great news –– Watershed Voice Executive Editor and Publisher Alek Haak-Frost is a finalist for the Local Independent Online News Publishers #LIONAwards23 Public Service Award! The LION Awards recognize excellence by local independent online news businesses, and they received nearly 300 award entries this year.
Alek and Doug attempt to recap the magic that was the third annual Watershed Voice Artist Showcase, while Alek grapples with the authenticity of certain pop culture references and idioms used by characters in Ginny & Georgia. Would a teen in the 2020s reference Ghost (1990)? How often does Pinky & the Brain (1995) come up? Is Casper the Friendly Ghost on the typical Gen Z-er’s radar? We ponder.
Those in attendance at the third annual Watershed Voice Artist Showcase were treated to three-and-a-half hours of poetry and spoken word, rap, hip hop, gospel and folk/Americana music to raise money for local, independent journalism. See photos from Saturday’s festivities here.
The third annual Watershed Voice Artist Showcase returns this Saturday, July 15 at 6 p.m. at The Huss Project (1008 8th St.) in Three Rivers. Eleven artists from across the midwest will captivate audiences with live music, poetry, and stand-up comedy. Here is a closer look at the performances and acts set to take the stage Saturday night.
Doug and Alek are, in fact, alive. After a lengthy hiatus the duo return to preview the third annual Watershed Voice Artist Showcase (Saturday, July 15, 6 p.m., The Huss Project, Three Rivers), recap all that has happened between the last KYVD episode and this one, including Three Rivers Pride, Alek’s first tattoo(shout out to Portfolio Ink and Amber Ward), and how Alek’s wife Deborah is the Tom Hagen of Watershed Voice.